Component and Raw Material Tracking for Shopify Stores Made Simple

Every finished product you sell online, whether it’s a table, candle, hoodie, or water bottle, is only possible because of the raw materials and components behind it.

Customers don’t see those parts, but you know they’re the backbone of your business.

The challenge?

Shopify doesn’t give you a way to track these hidden essentials. That’s why many merchants struggle with delays, stockouts, or unfinished products when just one piece runs out.

In this blog, we’ll break down what components and raw materials mean for eCommerce, why Shopify alone can’t handle them, and how Sumtracker makes it simple to keep track of everything behind the scenes, so your operations never stall over missing parts.

What Are Components and Raw Materials in eCommerce?

When you’re selling physical products, you’re rarely just selling a single item straight out of the box. Most finished goods are actually a combination of smaller parts or raw materials.

These parts are essential to build the final product but aren’t something you would ever list individually on Shopify.

Think of them as the invisible backbone of your product line, critical for operations, but not customer-facing.

Here are a few examples to make it clear:

• Tables and Chairs (Furniture Stores):
  You might list a table on Shopify as one product, but in reality it’s made up of a tabletop + 4 legs. Nobody is going to buy the legs separately, but you still need to keep track of them so you don’t run out when assembling tables.

• Water Bottles (Consumer Goods):
  On Shopify, you’ll only sell a water bottle. But operationally, it’s actually a bottle + a cap. If you don’t track caps separately, you might suddenly have 500 bottles in stock but zero caps  which means you can’t sell a single bottle.

• Candles (Home & Lifestyle): What the customer sees: a finished scented candle.
  What you actually need: wax, wick, glass jar, and fragrance oil. Shopify doesn’t handle these raw materials natively, but if you don’t track them, you’ll always be guessing when to reorder.

Why Shopify Isn’t Built for Component Tracking

Shopify is fantastic for managing finished products that customers see and buy online. But when it comes to behind-the-scenes operations like raw materials or components, Shopify falls short.

Here’s why:

• No place for “hidden” products
  On Shopify, every product you create is automatically meant to be customer-facing. That means you can’t just add “table legs” or “bottle caps” without confusing your storefront or cluttering your catalog.

• No automatic link between components and finished goods
  If you sell a bundle (like a water bottle made up of bottle + cap), Shopify won’t reduce the inventory of those parts when you sell the finished product. You’d have to update everything manually.

• No visibility into raw materials
  If you run a candle business, Shopify will only show “100 candles in stock.” It won’t tell you that you’re running dangerously low on wicks or fragrance oil. That disconnect makes planning and restocking a guessing game.

• Limited reporting
  Shopify inventory reports are designed for product sales, not raw material consumption. You won’t see when components are about to run out or how they’re being used across different products.

How Sumtracker Helps You Track Components and Raw Materials

Instead of trying to hack Shopify to manage parts that don’t belong there, you can simply create components and raw materials inside inventory management tools only.

This is exactly where Sumtracker makes life easier. These products won’t be published to your Shopify store, they live in your backend, purely for operational control.

Here’s what that looks like in practice:

• Create hidden components in Sumtracker
  Add items like bottle caps, candle wicks, fabric rolls, table legs as products in Sumtracker. They won’t clutter your Shopify storefront, but you’ll always know how many you have in stock.

• Automatic deduction through bundles
  If a finished product is built using multiple components, Sumtracker automatically reduces the right parts when a sale happens. Sell a “table”? Your stock of 1 tabletop + 4 legs goes down. Sell a “water bottle”? Both bottle + cap reduce. No manual edits needed.

• Purchase and restock raw materials
  You can create purchase orders directly in Sumtracker for components. Need 5,000 bottle caps or 200 fabric rolls? Order them from suppliers, receive them in Sumtracker, and your stock updates instantly.

• Stay ahead with alerts and reports
  Low stock alerts ensure you never get stuck with finished goods that can’t be assembled. Plus, component-level sales and replenishment reports show exactly when and how much to reorder.

Linking Components to Finished Goods with Bundles and Assemblies

One of the biggest challenges in inventory management is making sure that when you sell a finished product, the right components are reduced automatically. Otherwise, you’re left juggling spreadsheets or manual updates which is both error-prone and exhausting.

Sumtracker makes this simple with bundles and assemblies:

Bundles: Bundles let you link finished products with their underlying parts. For example:

• Sell a table on Shopify → Sumtracker reduces 1 tabletop + 4 legs from your component inventory.
• Sell a water bottle → Sumtracker reduces 1 bottle + 1 cap behind the scenes.
• Your Shopify customer only ever sees the final product, but you always have visibility into the parts.

Assemblies: Assemblies allow you to build finished goods from raw materials in advance. For example:

• You can “assemble” 100 scented candles in Sumtracker using wax + wicks + jars + fragrance oil.
• Once assembled, your finished candles show up as ready-to-sell stock, while the raw materials automatically reduce.

The end result?

Every sale, whether direct or through a bundle, keeps your component stock accurate. So you’ll never run into the painful situation of having finished goods you can’t fulfill because a tiny part is missing.

Start Tracking Components with Sumtracker Today

At the end of the day, your Shopify store is designed for selling finished products not for tracking the nuts, bolts, fabrics, jars, or caps that make them possible. That’s exactly why Sumtracker exists.

By managing your components and raw materials directly in Sumtracker, you get:

• A clean Shopify storefront (no clutter from hidden parts)
• Accurate component-level stock updates whenever you sell finished goods
• Low-stock alerts and replenishment reports that prevent last-minute supplier scrambles
• Full visibility into what’s really driving your operations

So whether you’re building furniture, crafting candles, selling apparel, or producing consumer goods, you’ll always know exactly what’s in stock, what’s running low, and what needs to be ordered next.

Ready to simplify your operations?

Start tracking your components in Sumtracker today and never let a missing part hold back your business again.

Sign up for free trial today!

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Can I track raw materials in Shopify directly?

Not really. Shopify is designed to track finished products, not raw materials or hidden components. That’s why tools like Sumtracker are needed for operational control.

2. Will my customers see the components I create in Sumtracker?

No. Components and raw materials you create in Sumtracker stay hidden from your Shopify storefront. They’re only tracked in your backend for inventory accuracy.

3. What happens to components when I sell a finished product?

Sumtracker automatically deducts the right parts. For example, if you sell a water bottle, both the bottle and cap reduce in stock behind the scenes.

4. Can I reorder components through Sumtracker?

Yes. You can create purchase orders for raw materials and track supplier deliveries directly in Sumtracker, keeping your stock levels up-to-date.

5. Which businesses benefit most from component tracking?

Any store that assembles products like furniture, apparel, candles, drinkware, or packaged goods benefits from tracking raw materials and components.

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